Blogs from South America - page 5203

Back in Lima for a final dose of diesel exhaust fumes. Spent an enjoyable few hours at the Museo de la Nacion catching up on pre Incan Peruvian history, took in MI3 at a theatre and ate one more massive roasted chicken meal. They have perfected the roasted tender chicken here in Peru... one whole roasted chicken fresh off the spit, one large plate of salad, one massive pile of french fries, and one big bottle of Inca Cola for as little as $8-10 Can. incl a beer and tip. The following morning no one had any enthusiasm for the ruins of Pachacamac south of Lima, they will still be there if we return. We went out in search of an american breakfast and found pina juice, fried eggs, buns and butter. Took in another movie, ... read more

Rain is dripping off the fragile points of trees and smearing everything on the sidewalks. walking home i smelled fresh bread everywhere and it made me want to slip into a nice warm jacket of a cafe and drink coffee and fresh hot bread layered in butter. I am in a slow sleepy mood. Listening to Nina Simone at a volume where I can feel her voice rattle my bones and give me chills. The more I listen to Nina Simone the more I like her. She hits me somewhere deep but leaves me hanging. She makes me feel sexy, joyful, light as a cobweb, moody, strong as an oak. You can tell when I am walking around BsAs and listening to her. There is something different in the strides I take. When I listen to ... read more

many geographical hotspots have their own motto. for example, belize's is "you better belize it!" connecticut's is "connecticut:we're full of surprises." the united states is apparently the "land of the free," whoever that's supposed to be referring to. argentina's is "argentina: un pais, en serio!" which translates roughly to "argentina: seriously, we're a country!" in our three weeks in this "country," we have come up with a few more...how should i say this...appropriate mottos. here's one: Argentina: Your Unreliable Friend because here's the thing. everyone has that unreliable friend, right? you know who i'm talking about. he says he'll be there at 8, but you call at 10 and he says he's not coming. she borrows a cd and only after you've forgotten you ever owned it does she return it, if ever. or, say, he's ... read more

After hotel check out and entrusting our surplus luggage to the Marriott’s concierge, we took a short taxi ride to Aeroparque, the local airport dedicated to flights within Argentina. As it was now common for us on this trip, this taxi driver also had several recommendations for us once he learned that we were going to Iguazú. He warned us to stay away from a place named “Tres Naciones” (Three Nations) close to the border with Paraguay and Brazil where several tourists had been victims of crime in the recent past. The check in and security process at Aeroparque was straightforward and we soon reached the gate area. Our Aerolineas Argentinas flight was scheduled to depart at 12:55 PM from Gate 7, located almost at the center of the long terminal. When the time came for ... read more

The Sacred Valley is a pretty common day tour that visitors to Cusco head out on. The tour itself leaves from Cusco town and takes in the sights of the Urubamba Valley, which is about an hour from Cusco and includes the area between the Inca communities of Pisac and Ollantaytambo. On the list of sights for the day are the markets of Pisac, several Inca ruins, lunch, a church, the town of Ollantaytambo and sunset over the hills. On the tour the first stop was Pisac and the markets and the option to walk up a hill and look at some ruins. I was more fascinated at the colourful markets and wandering through the little village of Pisac rather than a ruin on this particular morning... I just didn’t think it would compare to Machu ... read more